More Photos from "Cloudstreet" (Summer Theatre School)

Here are some pictures, taken by Andrew Dyer of the Riding Lights Theatre Company

Me as Dolly Pickles in the floral dress on the left

A drunken Dolly tells her daughter that she shouldn't hate her

Dolly Pickles get chatted up in the local bar

Dolly is not impressed by the big old rambling house where she and her family have to live

The girls next door chase after Dolly's son with a pair of scissors. He has just shown one of them his "thingy".

Trevor, as Sam Pickles, pleads with his daughter to visit her estranged mother, Dolly.

Riding Lights Summer Theatre School

Cast and Crew

We're back from a one-week residential summer school with the Riding Lights Christian theatre company. What a week it has been! There were 7 courses on offer at Harrogate Ladies College in North Yorkshire: 3 for 14-18 year-olds and 4 for the 19-90s. These included scriptwriting, musical theatre, storytelling (traditional and digital) and the largest course with 24 participants, a staged play. Trevor and I were involved with the latter, where we went through the production process from the initial read-through to a public performance at the end of the week.

The play was Cloudstreet, adapted from Tim Winton's award-winning novel. It follows the lives of two dysfunctional families sharing a large old rambling house in Perth, Western Australia, between 1945 and 1965.

During the first part of the week, both Trevor and I struggled with it all as we felt so utterly out of our comfort blanket. It was more than 5 years since I had performed on a stage and it was Trevor's first attempt. However, as the week went on and we made friends, we did get caught up with the "buzz" of summer school with its theme of 'living in hope'. Performances by the other groups were awesome and we were particularly impressed with the 3 youth groups. With these kids being our future, then our future looks promising.

Cloudstreet, brilliantly directed by Bridget Foreman and Peter Hutchinson, was a huge success and we received some very favourable comments from members of the audience. It was a joy to work with a team of lovely talented and enthusiastic people!

Praise God for a wonderful week, Amen.

Trevor and his "daughter" rehearsing. Peter, the director is on the left.

Trevor checks his lines

More info and pictures can be seen on the Riding Lights blog... click here

Rain For Life

Two and a half thousand women braved the wet weather last night, to squelch round the 5K Race For Life course at Coombe Abbey Country Park in Coventry. This was my 4th consecutive year of running at this event, and it was definitely the wettest! Having poured down all day, the rain held off during the 'warm-up' before the race and for the first 5 minutes or so from the start line. After that the skies opened up again and it bucketed it down, making the muddy terrain quite hazardous at times.

It was brilliant though!!

The woman were split into 3 groups:

1. Runners

2. Part runners/part walkers

3. Walkers

As a runner, I belonged to the first group to start the race, and I completed the course in 31 minutes, 40 seconds.

Thanks to everyone who sponsored me in this worthwhile fund-raising event for Cancer Research UK. My fund-raising target was £150.00 and I've so far raised £252.00!

The warm-up before the race

I'm clasping my hands here because a woman next me rapped me on the knuckles with a litre bottle of water!

Drenched, at the end of the race!

Coventry to Slough

On Sunday, Trevor and I ran in the 4.5 mile Coventry Fun Run, starting and finishing at the War Memorial Park. It was exhilarating! I was especially pleased that after I reached the finish line, there was an announcement to clear the exit as there were several HUNDRED runners yet to finish!! Ahem, I'm a (nearly) 48-year-old ex-smoker with a few pounds to lose, so hey, I could have done a lot worse! Trevor struggled at one point so being the selfless, supportive wife that I am, I left him gasping for breath and carried on without him! I do feel mean now. Oh well, ho hum, it might encourage him to do a bit of training. He came in 5 minutes after me so he still did really well, for a man aged 55 years, 364 days.

On Monday Trevor was 56 and we celebrated his birthday by working in sunny Slough, in Berkshire. My fellow blogger (Steve) might cringe at this because it is not is favourite place. Sir John Betjeman was not enamoured by Slough either. The opening line of his 1937 poem is "Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!" Click here for the full poem.
It was my first visit and I was expecting something much worse. The word 'slough' is most unappealing. Slough (pronunced 'sluff') is also a white creamy discharge found on infected tonsils. It's like calling a town 'Snot'. Anyway, I thought Slough was rather pleasant but then the sun was shining and our workshop was a success :-)

What a Difference a Day Makes...

Following a 'difficult' workshop in Oxfordshire on 16th May (see post dated 18th May), the following week couldn't have been more different. We delivered 4 'Trust Me I'm a Patient' training workshops in 3 counties: Hampshire, Buckinghamshire and the dreaded Oxfordshire. Living in Warwickshire, we found ourselves up and down the A34 like a yoyo.

Monday 19th May was spent in Basingstoke, Hampshire with a delightful and appreciative group of participants. I'd like to have adopted a couple of them and taken them with me to other workshops as they threw themselves so enthusiastically and passionately into their roles.

Trevor chats with 3 of the 17 participants

Tuesday 20th May was spent at the Culham Science Centre in Abingdon in, dare I say it? I'll whisper it, Oxfordshire. Getting in was like trying to get in, or perhaps out of prison. Met by security guards, we noted that they lacked any charm or personality.
The workshop was great apart from a bit of negativity from one frontline NHS staff member. She said that she hadn't learnt anything and wished she hadn't left her important work with patients to come to our workshop. I asked her why she had attended, to which she replied, "It was a tick box exercise for the PCT (Primary Care Trust) to say that I've been on a course." Mm... any comments about that?

Ready to go home at the end of a long day. It took several hours finding our way out....

.... and even longer to get in

Wednesday 21st May was spent preparing workshops for the next 2 days ...

Thursday 22nd May saw us in Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. The workshop took place in the local Anglican church and the people were responsive and utterly delightful.

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

Friday 23rd May was spent in Eastleigh, Hampshire. It was a small workshop and it all went smoothly. We ended the week by presenting DAFTA awards to participants.

Eastleigh, Hampshire

Imagine this.....

Imagine that you go to the theatre one evening to see a play in two acts.

Imagine that the play opens with a narrator to set the scene, during which some people come into the auditorium, late and noisily.

Imagine that the first narration is over and the first scene appears to go quite well, creating laughter and a round of applause at the end of the scene.

Imagine that the second scene is interrupted by two people from the audience. The first one says that the first scene was completely false and unrealistic. The second person stands up to say that he is offended by something in the script.

Imagine that the scene continues, somewhat slugglishly because the success of the second scene is dependent on a response from the audience.

Imagine that one of the actors remains composed and professional, though inside he feels embarrassed. The other actor becomes hyper-active in an attempt to win back the audience, but does manage a degree of control.

Imagine that a couple more people in the audience interrupt by stating that the play was different from what they were expecting and had they known what the play was about, they wouldn't have come. They leave the auditorium.

Imagine that the curtains close before the first act is finished.

Imagine that the second act proceeds but it is difficult to follow, without having seen the first act in its entirety.

OK that's enough imagination for one day! This highlights one of our role-playing training workshops for the NHS, last Friday. Trevor and I have facilitated many of these events and apart from a little bit of negative feedback a few months ago from one, the response has been warm and positive! We wouldn't have been contracted to do a series of 25 workshops with one health authority if they'd been that awful!

I was the one who went all hyper and humiliated myself. I feel so sorry that we failed, and that the majority of the audience were short-changed.

Sigh, we have 4 more similar workshops this week. Lamb and slaughter spring to mind. I'd better pop a jar of mint sauce in my handbag.

Here's me, after the workshop... attempting a smile!

Knowle Fun Run

What a busy couple of weeks we've had!! Trevor and I have been bombing up and down the motorway, facilitating role-playing training workshops for the NHS. We've spent much of our time in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire. The beauty of where we live in Warwickshire means that nowhere is a million miles away.

Speaking of high numbers, Trevor was on Cloud Nine Million yesterday. His beloved Manchester United became the Premiership champions for the 10th time in 16 seasons, under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson. I'm still trying to bring Trevor back down to earth!

Trevor and I had our own small achievement to celebrate as we participated, for the 3rd year, erm.. running, in the 5-mile Knowle Fun Run in Solihull. With a steep hill (run twice in the 2-lap course) and temperatures higher than in Spain, it wasn't the easiest of races. Still, we did it!

Me before the race. Oh look, a balloon is sticking out of my head!

Trevor looks longingly at the sausages...

...and I'm tempted by the ice cream van but manage to resist

after the run...

...sweaty but smiling with relief!